The government has asked the Centre to amend the NDPS Act for stricter punishment, Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday while assuring to intensify the fight against drugs in the state. Responding to a question by NCP member Rohit Pawar in the state assembly, Fadnavis said the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has been appointed the nodal agency for crackdown on narcotics in the state. Each police station has been given an anti-narcotics cell, which was previously available only in big cities, he added.

Initiating debate, Pawar said that Pune and many other cities had been flooded with narcotics. According to him, suppliers were using code language on social media to receive orders from consumers. “Such things are used to book, sell, buy drugs,” he said, flashing printouts of emojis. “We need to have a long-term policy to check the menace. The youngsters are being ruined,” Pawar said.